THE END OF CONCILIATION Emancipation

The End of Conciliation Many Federal generals had sought to wage war consistent with Winfield Scott’s limited approach in Mexico The idea was to practice a conciliatory policy that held that mild treatment of Southerners, their property, and their institutions would ultimately result in their returning their allegiance to the US McClellan argued for this practice in a letter he gave Lincoln on July 8 stating “A declaration of radical views, especially upon slavery, will rapidly disintegrate our present armies.”

Moves toward Emancipation A few generals such as Ben Butler, John Fremont, and David Hunter however were pushing for emancipation Lincoln too was beginning to move in that direction and on July 22, 1862 he showed his cabinet a preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation  But Lincoln needed a battlefield victory to give him an opportunity to make the Proclamation public  Antietam accomplished that

Emancipation Proclamation Issued September 22, 1862 “That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free…”

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation changed the very nature of the war, giving it a completely new objective Conciliation was no longer an option Represented a move toward total war  The North was now not merely fighting to restore a union it thought was never legitimately separated. It was fighting for freedom of a race.  The South was no longer fighting merely for independence. It was fighting for survival of its way of life.

Impact of Emancipation Proclamation Jefferson Davis  labeled REBELLION on chain. Defeated  seated figure with small hammer labeled COMPROMISE. Henry W. Halleck  wields mallet labeled SKILL. George McClellan  wields mallet labeled STRATEGY. Edwin M. Stanton  holds mallet labeled DRAFT. Lincoln  shoulders an axe labeled EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. Stanton: Halleck may use his skill and Mac his strategy, but this draft will do the business. Lincoln: You can try him with that, but I'm afraid this axe of mine is the only thing that will fetch him.

Diplomatic Impact The South had longed hoped for European recognition and intervention The Emancipation Proclamation made that virtually impossible because England had abolished slavery in 1833 and France in 1848 John Slidell represented the Confederacy in France

Impact of Emancipation Proclamation on Confederate Diplomatic Efforts “… the feeling against slavery in England is so strong that no public man there dares extend a hand to help us… There is no government in Europe that dares help us in a struggle which can be suspected of having for its result, directly or indirectly, the fortification or perpetuation of slavery. Of that I am certain”  William Yancey, Confederate politician

1863… Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville